Aug 3, 2011 1:57 PM

I am going to run the disney marathon, my first in january. I have run one half marathon in may and about three 10k and one 15k. I would like to run one more half before disney, how much time should i allow between races.

I'm in the same boat as you, with my marathon coming up in October. I'm running a half this weekend, right about the halfway point in my training (Week 11 of a 20-week program). I'm actually tempted to run another, and a friend of mine who runs marthons regularly recommended that I try to run my last half no later than 4 weeks before the marathon, because I should get one more 20+ mile run in the week after, then begin the 3-week taper. It made sense to me, so now I'm trying to find a half that fits into that time frame.

You will start your training probably around 18 weeks from the race. I run a 1/2 and several 10Ks during my cycle. I don't always race them but run them harder than my long runs. Most plans will allow you to race about every 4 weeks during your cycle. With the shorter races just make sure you get the miles that you are suppose to run, say if you plan calls for 18 and you run a 10K you still need to get the additional miles in, that can be tuff if you raced the 10K. I find 1/2s very good for training runs for me during the cycle. This past year for my A race which was only a 1/2, I did three 1/2s before the race. Good luck

I think that really depends on you. If you aren't pushing yourself, then it probably doesn't matter if you do it as close as four weeks before then begin your taper. But if you feel like you can't run it without pushing it then give yourself a little more recovery time maybe. Good luck to you!

When I was training for my first marathon in Oct. 2009, I remember reading on one of these boards that racing a half is roughly equivalent to doing a 17 mile training run. That would determine where you'd want to fit it in your plan.